Devotionals

Many times, we make plans for the future and experience an inordinate degree of sadness when they do not turn out. Disappointment when things do not turn out our way may not be completely avoidable in this life, but understanding ...Read More

We live in a lawless age that disdains boundaries and restrictions. Thus, the notion of loving God’s law seems quite strange to the unbeliever. Yet it should never seem strange to us. If God by His Spirit has poured His ...Read More

The Reformed tradition has maintained the importance of the doctrine of predestination, but it has also cautioned us to speak about this matter with great care. People are apt to mischaracterize the doctrine of predestination, and even professed Calvinists often ...Read More

When we enter the presence of the Lord, we must remember that we are sinners and have merited only the righteous wrath of our Creator. Thus, we should come before Him in a spirit of repentance, with sorrow for sin ...Read More

The fact that God is not merely our friend is actually a great benefit for us. Mere friends cannot rescue us from sin. Good pals cannot provide the all-sufficient help we need to make it through our trials and tribulations. ...Read More

God is sovereign and we are not. All things are from Him, through Him, and to Him, as Paul says in Romans 11:36. Therefore, everything that He does is for the sake of revealing Himself and His glory. It is ...Read More

In stating that the Lord gave and the Lord took away, Job did not “charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22). Job did not accuse the Lord of issuing a direct assault on his family, nor did he claim that God ...Read More

Human freedom and divine sovereignty exist in a complex, mysterious relationship. Though God ordains all of our choices—even choices that end up being thwarted because they do not match the results that He has ordained—we can never blame Him for ...Read More

In his Institutes, John Calvin notes that prayer is more for our benefit than it is for God’s (3.20.3). While we can hold to the truth that there are some things that God will not do unless we ask Him ...Read More

Our knowledge of God’s character not only encourages us to pray but it also helps keep us from sin. John Calvin writes, “One great reason of the carnal security into which we fall, is our not considering how singularly we ...Read More